InfoChachkie

JULY 21, 2011

Paige is a gifted communicator and my summary does not do him justice. He offers a number of worthwhile tips and tricks that I was not able to capture in the textual summary, so the 14-minute audio file is well worth your time. What follows is a summary which paraphrases Paige’s responses. Click here to listen to the Audio File.

Summary 246

Summary Tips Sales Entrepreneur 246

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 14, 2018

Summary: Send the Deck Pitch decks are sales & marketing decks and like in any sales activity, any great sales person assumes his or her competition will eventually get their deck. Competition isn’t won or lost by your marketing decks?—?it’s it’s won by how you innovate and by how you execute.

Funding 239

Funding Venture Capital IP Email 239

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 1, 2010

You’ll get sales information from your VP of Sales, marketing information from your VP Marketing, tech information from your CTO and so on. An obvious example would be in sales. By going on sales calls you pick up directly the feedback of what customers want and also what they’re telling you about competition.

Startup 308

Startup CTO Coach Technical Review CTO Hire 308

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 6, 2015

Many people are too cautious in sales processes and as a result when they present their solutions they end up sounding milquetoast and undifferentiated from anybody else in the market. I recently wrote about the three rules of sales. Assume competition and assume within the buying organization you have enemies. Why Buy Me?

Sales 150

Sales SaaS Startup Venture Capital 150

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 11, 2010

Modern investors love to first read a two-page summary of your business plan, formatted like a glossy marketing collateral sheet, with text well laid out in columns and sidebars, and a couple of relevant graphics. You may have already found several articles, web pages, or books about writing the perfect executive summary.

Summary 55

Summary Writing Competition Metrics 55

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 22, 2014

It’s insanely competitive to get into our industry so most have degrees from institutions like Stanford, Harvard, Wharton and University of Chicago (blatant plug ;-). Of course it is super helpful if a VC can drop you in to important people for business development, recruiting, PR, sales and eventually M&A. Connections?

Venture Capital 364

Venture Capital Coach Writing SaaS 364

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 13, 2011

I wrote the summary notes in this blog post. I talked about this in the TWiVC video but I didn’t do a good enough job of writing it up in the summary notes in the post. And when you finish the demo you can bring in the other important components such as competition, team, customer acquisition strategy, etc. Mobile app?

Venture Capital 299

Venture Capital Slides Technical Advisors Startup 299

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 1, 2016

In short, the VC industry is very sharp-elbowed amongst some very competitive people who are used to winning and most deals don’t have enough space to share investment rounds so people were naturally pretty quick to judge A16Z. Do they win competitive deals? to “Jeez — they sure are hiring a ton of staff. Can that really work?”

Venture Capital 264

Venture Capital Invest Funding Competition 264

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 2, 2014

We feel pressure to hit milestones for a variety of reasons: Investor presentations, conference demos, customer sales meetings, competitive pressures, a need to drive revenue, business development commitments – whatever. In summary – I have been involved with software development for 25 years.

Software 344

Software Startup Design Course 344

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2010

I recently did a post for startups on understanding sales people. new features need to go into the sale people’s slides so that they know the latest and greatest about how to differentiate from the competition. In summary. A few people have asked me to try and define the perfect startup organization chart.

CTO Hire 400

CTO Hire Fractional VPE Startup Outsource Development 400

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 3, 2013

Watch the 30-minute interview to hear why but summary notes below. We also spoke about technology systems in the perspective of global competition. The numerator (return) encourages more sales, which is fine. So pray for Harvard Business School if you wouldn’t mind.” ” Who else does Clayton pray for?

Venture Capital 403

Venture Capital Education Offshore Outsource Development 403

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 13, 2018

The most important advice I could give you before you set out in fund raising mode is to understand that fund-raising a sales & marketing process and needs to be managed. Somehow many first-time founders equate “sales” with something that is beneath them. In sales there are also three rules: Qualify, qualify, qualify.

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Funding Startup Sales 332

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

To be clear, I define a product specification as the technical definition of your product, to be used for development and testing purposes, with a quick business summary for context. Call out your top competitors, highlighting your sustainable competitive advantage, including patents, trade secrets. and trademarks.

Product 169

Product Summary Startup Examples 169

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

Or read the quick, informative summary below the image! Here’s a summary of our interview. o Everything is for sale but it’s the price that moves the timing. o Put a timeframe/money – competition in the picture. Matt is one of the most transparent, focused & honest startup guys you’ll meet.

Acquisition 304

Acquisition Startup Customer Custom 304

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 15, 2020

Here is a summary of their key observations, with our joint specifics on what to expect, and how to overcome these obstacles: Customers don’t buy what they don’t know and understand. Multiple decision makers required to close a sale. Initial hype can generate a sales spurt, but long-term growth requires a clear fit.

Case Study 174

Case Study Startup Custom Customer 174

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 22, 2010

File this under both Startup Adivce and Sales & Marketing Advice. Given a choice of your marketing person or talking to you (the founder) there’s no competition. Summary: Journalists are people. Tags: Entrepreneur Advice Sales & Marketing Advice Social Media Start-up Advice Startup Advice. Be respectful.

Tips 307

Tips Startup Press Blogging 307

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 24, 2018

controlling your psychology ) you no doubt have heard me say that raising capital is a sales & marketing process. This is Sales 101. If you’ve read any of my ongoing series on fund raising from venture capitalist (episode 1?— ?controlling that’s a lot riding on your pitch and the willingness of the sponsoring partner to advocate.

Venture Capital 314

Venture Capital Technical Review Invest Slides 314

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 6, 2011

That said, a summary below is available for those who prefer to read the notes version. A very big thank you to Travis Biziorek of Kibin who did the summary notes below. If you value the summary notes please at least check out the Kibin website & see what they do. I love the concept.

Startup 292

Startup Venture Capital Blogging Summary 292

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 22, 2010

Due to competitive markets we ended up with a pretty good term sheet until we needed to raise money in April 2001 and then we got completely screwed. This states how the proceeds from a sale or dissolution of the company will be distributed. It was accept the terms or go into bankruptcy so we took the money.

Venture Capital 405

Venture Capital Pricing Startup Funding 405

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 9, 2023

Being very visible in the startup community, I still get an amazing number of badly written emails, rambling executive summaries, and business plans with one paragraph per chapter. In the competitive realm of business, you only get one chance to make a great first impression. You can’t afford that competitive disadvantage.

Tips 123

Tips Writing Startup Summary 123

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 23, 2021

Some investors seem to focus wholly on the strengths of the management team, or a sustainable competitive advantage, and in reality these are the core attributes for every funding equation. This is not just sales traction, but a proper balance between resources, product, and customers. A startup must gain balanced traction.

Education 151

Education Custom Customer Sales 151

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 20, 2009

This is not unlike a major biz dev deal you’re trying to sign or a big sales campaign into the VP of a major company. I like to tell entrepreneurs to treat it like a sales campaign. EXACTLY like a sales campaign. It is much easier to follow up by calling the junior staff (again, just as you would in a sales campaign).

Venture Capital 277

Venture Capital Startup Email News 277

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2020

Serious investors, on the other hand, look for a professional business plan or summary first, and hardly ever look at the product plan. It allows all members of your team, including marketing, support, and sales, to size and build the business plan processes they need to find customers, deliver, and maintain grow the business.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Startup Summary Product 124

InfoChachkie

AUGUST 18, 2011

What follows is a summary which paraphrases Mark’s responses. And then create the audience and deliver the right offer to the shoppers so they get the incentive they need to convert and the site gets the sale and a new customer.”. A big part of our culture is to be competitive and to be at peace with your co-workers, with no politics.

eHarmony 204

eHarmony Media Oracle Commerce 204

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 17, 2020

Being very visible in the startup community, I still get an amazing number of badly written emails, rambling executive summaries, and business plans with one paragraph per chapter. In the competitive realm of business, you only get one chance to make a great first impression. You can’t afford that competitive disadvantage.

Writing 125

Writing Entrepreneur Summary Email 125

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2023

Serious investors, on the other hand, look for a professional business plan or summary first, and hardly ever look at the product plan. It allows all members of your team, including marketing, support, and sales, to size and build the business plan processes they need to find customers, deliver, and maintain grow the business.

Product 112

Product Summary Activity Entrepreneur 112

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 23, 2017

Raising money is a sale and selling requires persistence and follow up. The best sales people never give up and they are politely persistent in finding new ways to get in front of target buyers. It’s the exact same phenomenon in sales when you’re in a competitive RFP and 5 firms are pitching. Be in Person. Use your bench.

Funding 238

Funding Venture Capital Startup Course 238

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 26, 2012

The elevator pitch should be the first few paragraphs of your business plan, your executive summary, your investor presentation, and the first page of your web site. Unlike [competition], we [differentiation].” Present a sustainable competitive advantage. A good elevator pitch is not just for an elevator discussion.

Startup 113

Startup Patents Template Competition 113

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 13, 2011

It always amazes me how an entrepreneur can define his market opportunity so broadly, and then assess his competition so narrowly in the next breath. Competition and sustainable advantage. List and describe your competition, direct and indirect, including customer alternatives. Asserting you have no competition is not credible.

Competition 116

Competition Metrics Startup Sales 116

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 30, 2010

I don’t intend either, Burstly has respectable and strong competition. He’s a natural leader, appropriately competitive, very customer focused and a pleasure to work with. You can also compare how in-app purchases perform vs. cross-promoting the other apps you may have for sale. What does it do?

Mobile 282

Mobile Invest Company Companies 282

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 13, 2012

It always amazes me how an entrepreneur can define his market opportunity so broadly, and then assess his competition so narrowly in the next breath. Competition and sustainable advantage. List and describe your competition, direct and indirect, including customer alternatives. Asserting you have no competition is not credible.

Competition 113

Competition Metrics Startup Invest 113

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2021

There is no magic formula for a formal business plan format or sequence, but I would recommend the following ten sections, in this sequence, with relevant content: Executive summary Problem and solution Company description Market opportunity Business model Competition analysis Marketing and sales strategy Management team Financial projections Exit (..)

Sample 137

Sample Writing Mentor Content 137

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 18, 2014

Serious investors, on the other hand, look for a professional business plan or summary first, and hardly ever look at the product plan. It allows all members of your team, including marketing, support, and sales, to size and build the business plan processes they need to find customers, deliver, and maintain grow the business.

Product 101

Product Entrepreneur Summary Activity 101

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 18, 2021

Here is a quick summary of the priorities normally covered by the due diligence process: Evaluation of key players. Sales and marketing strategy. An investor will try to get an independent reading on competition, barriers to entry, price sensitivity, and what percentage of the market your company can expect to capture.

Technical Review 152

Technical Review Startup Satisfaction Summary 152

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 3, 2012

I agree with Eric’s summary of the top ten types of pivots to consider: Zoom-in pivot. In sales terminology, the mechanism by which a company delivers it product to customers is called the sales channel or distribution channel. Channel pivots usually require unique pricing, feature, and competitive positioning adjustments.

Course 109

Course Startup Platform Entrepreneur 109

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 3, 2014

Being very visible in the startup community, I still get an amazing number of badly written emails, rambling executive summaries, and business plans with one paragraph per chapter. In the competitive realm of business, you only get one chance to make a great first impression. You can’t afford that competitive disadvantage.

Writing 109

Writing Entrepreneur Summary Email 109

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 30, 2022

Almost instantly, via the Internet or on their smartphone in the store, they can find the lowest price alternative or their favorite features, without waiting for push marketing or listening to your best sales person. Bloom’s classic book, “ The New Experts: Win Today's Newly Empowered Customers.”

Customer 146

Customer Custom Startup Course 146